Medic!
by RikaDivani
Summary: Donnie's a brilliant inventor and chemist, but finds himself in too deep when Raph gets stabbed with a sword. He can administer first aid or cook up anti-poisons but when it comes to injuries that go inside the body and might have damaged organs, he's in over his head. Rated for possible future scenes, and mostly for gore and violence and awkward medical discussions.
1. Chapter 1

Vet Story

Introductory

The school is pretty silent tonight. I'm sitting in the lab, by myself, trying to finish the last few dog blood sample tests. I have to know how to do this for the exam, and I keep forgetting a step in the middle. I reach out to press the button on the centrifuge, my hand pausing when I hear a slight _clink!_ I glance around behind me but just see an open window that shouldn't be open. Somebody probably just left it unlatched and it pulled itself out, it does that. I turn back to hit the button and the centrifuge begins to spin. _Shuffle-fuush!_ I spin my chair around and get up, walking to the window. "This is freakin' me out." I swing it shut but can't find the latch. It's probably what I heard drop out earlier. I blink at the window. There's a small hole in the glass, sort of rectangular shaped and melted looking around the edges.

_Oh my god, did someone just break in!? With me sitting right- Foot clan?_ I'm all of a sudden terrified. _No, there's no way!_

I walk back to the centrifuge to grab my purse and pull out my cell phone. I'm hoping whoever it was that broke in or tried to break in, can't see me.

They can.

I shriek into the hand that covers my mouth as another hand grabs my cell phone and sets it back on my purse, pulling me bodily away from it. "I'm sorry ma'am. I need a few things." I'm set on a chair on the opposite side of the room and someone kneels in front of me, turning on a lamp. I was readied to punch, kick and scream, but when he took his hand off my mouth to light up the lamp, he was suddenly visible and all that came out of my mouth was, "AH-uh?"

"Apologies." He spread his hands in conciliation. "I have a brother who's injured. I need a few things. I'll take them and go. We can't exactly go out to a veterinary clinic." He gestures to himself.

"What exactly, are you?" My eyes are wide open, and I'm barely allowing myself to blink. He's gotta be at least six foot two or more. He's got a giant-_shell?_-on his back, and his face is green with a sort of beak shape. It's more rounded, and less pointy and hard, but it still... Looks like- "Turtle." I just sort of blurted it out and shrank into my seat when he smiled at me. His blue mask bunches a little around his eyes.

"That's right. I'm a turtle. I have a few- genetic enhancements." He shrugs. Oh my god, somebody experimented on turtles and this is what they got!? "I really can't waste any more time talking, you understand." He stands to his full height, a different picture showing itself now. Old armor. Like back in the stone ages, that samurai used to wear before metal armor was created. He didn't wear as much of it, but there was a chest-plate and arm guards, with shoulder pads and leg guards. It was made of either blue plates, or sticks tied together. And there were leather belts: One across his waist, and one going over his shoulder and shell with an NYC button on it. He stepped back, like he was wary of ME, and turned to look at the equipment. He was wearing sneakers... _Oh my god, there are swords on his back._

_Did the Foot create him? Is that why he's all... Ninja-y? God, that's not even a word. And what did he say? He needs something for an injured brother?_ He's looking around like he knows what he's looking for but can't find it. He's getting more calm instead of more agitated though and that's confusing. "Um?" He glances over his shoulder at me. "What exactly are you looking for?" He gives me a considering look, and sighs.

"Donnie said I needed-" He rattled off technical names that he obviously didn't recognize, but somehow managed to remember.

"Oh." _Some of those are in storage._ "Um." _I'm not about to help this guy, am I?_ I think it was 'brother' that got me. I sigh. "What are the injuries?"

He blinked at me placidly, then turned to face me completely. "He had a sword- he was stabbed in the abdomen." He pointed to a spot on his lower stomach and to the side, where there was no armor or protection from his shell or plastron. More to his side than abdomen, but who knows what angle it'd gone in? "And he has a lot of small incisions all over his body." He clears his throat, "We were in a long fight." And yet he looked almost unharmed.

"Why aren't you injured? Or are you?" I actually stood up and took a few steps before I realized what I was doing, stopped, and glared at the floor in confusion.

"I was, but- I'm wrapped up." I glance up. He had gauze wrapped around his arms and legs, but I assumed it was just for the armor and some protection against abrasions. He began to shake a little but closed his eyes and became still again. He's injured, he's probably suffering from blood loss and risking opening up his wounds- and he's doing it so he can get something to help his brother, who's apparently worse off than he is. Okay fine, I've made up my mind.

I sigh, "I'll get you the things you need, and then you're taking me to the injured party." I turn and walk toward the storage closet, pulling out my key and opening it. He didn't comment, and I guess he's not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth.

I grabbed some meds for producing blood and the needles and thread for stitching. I bring them back into the main room, toss them into my purse with my phone and shrug it on over my shoulder. He's standing there, watching me, but he hasn't tackled or tied me up yet so I keep moving. I grab some clotting meds up on the wall, it was only supposed to be for display and learning purposes but I think it'd be fine. It was the correct dosage and everything. I made sure to grab a LOT because who knows how many pounds they weighed and these doses were for teeny tiny turtles. I threw in some sedatives and pain meds. "So why come here, and not a veterinary clinic?" I walk over to him, pointing to the window with an upraised eyebrow. He nods and follows me to it.

"We live too far from the nearest one, and I probably wouldn't be able to stay on my feet long enough." He sounded like he thought his injuries were a personal failing or something. _Ahhh, he's one of those, 'everything wrong is my fault' types._ It probably also meant that the brother was younger than him. I remember-

"So your -home- is close?"

"Yeah. But... You might want to put that mask on now." I blink and frown down at the box of surgical masks poking out of my bag. He bends down to the street and picks up a manhole cover with little effort. He's staring at me with an inquisitive expression. I just shrug, sigh and climb down the ladder.

The sewers. If there's one place I'd never thought I'd actually go, the sewers under New York is at the top of the list. Right above Europe and Asia. Everything was kind of dark so I had to grab onto the turtle who was leading me. He moved slowly, but kept speeding up just a bit more, a bit more, and more, until we were trotting down the sewer track and stopped before a large wall. A dead-end? He reaches up and presses a brick, a loud clicking sound echoing along the tunnel and a voice issuing out of nowhere. "Leo?" I jumped. "You might not be thinking straight, because of the whole blood loss thing, cause... Is that a human girl with you?"

"I'm a Veterinary Student," I just sort of talk to the wall, since I have no idea where to look, "I came to help."

"... Okay, I guess. If Leo thinks it's fine." The entire wall parts and swings open. I blink at the large opening beyond it and follow the samurai-looking ninja turtle inside.

Their home was in the sewers, every inch of it was dark concrete... And yet I'd never been in a space that was more filled with homey comfort. It was a large open room, with many off-shooting in different directions. It was intricate, clean (if not cluttered a bit), and had a lot of little touches to make it seem more lived in. There were books littered here and there, some open to pages on philosophy, some open to pages on medical procedures. Someone had tried to figure this out themselves, I guess. We stopped in a room with a lot more animals in it. There were two more turtles standing in the doorway, one of them looking nervous and gleeful all at once, the other looking suspicious and tired. Then a really big, furry, _oh my god it's a rat, _stepped out between them. "Leonardo, my son. What have you brought?" He was eyeing me, and I guess I couldn't blame him, or the others for their nervousness.

"Can I see the injured party? I don't know how injured they are or how much blood they've lost and time could be a factor." By the looks of them, they could lose a lot of blood and still be alive, but who knows with a turtle? An experiment, who knows what was done to their insides?

They all stepped aside, but were watching me like a bunch of hungry hawks. I guess I couldn't fault them for it, but it made me nervous all the same. There was a fourth turtle on a large metal table that was way too tall for me to see over his whole body easily. He was bigger than the others, with a bunch of gauze taped over his wound, apparently until the blue banded one could find some more supplies. How long have they survived, and how? How did they get the food and water they needed to survive? How, how, how, how!? _It doesn't matter. Focus on the patient._ So I put my bag down on a nearby table filled with needles and other surgical implements. _Did they take these at one time or another? _I pull out the transfusion bag first and eye the other two turtles that were uninjured. Obviously the big ones were out alone when they got into whatever fight they were a part of. "Are any of you, his blood type?" The one who was looking nervous and happy at the same time stepped forward with a raised hand. "Have you done transfusions before?" _I doubt it, if they needed this it means they didn't have it, right?_

"We do every once in a while, but our last kit was too worn out and had a small hole in it. It was dangerous to use it." The tired and suspicious one with a purple bandanna and glasses was focused on me and seemed ready to answer any questions I had.

I noticed it then.

As soon as I'd walked in and started assessing, I'd looked like an actual doctor-er. Vet. I was taking control, I knew what I was doing, and they were looking at me like I was some kind of... well, some kind of doctor. Someone they could turn over the control to and hope would help their brother without worrying about screwing it up themselves. My heart melted a little bit at the way they were staring at me now, and I turned to glance over the smaller and more superficial injuries. They were already wrapped up and taken care of, but I'd brought antibiotics and other things they might need, so I'd have to go over them later to disinfect and re-bandage. "I need you to sit near him on this side." I point to a place and the one with the orange band rockets over to sit there without knocking into anything, and I blink with wide eyes at the speed and grace that he really shouldn't have. "Uh. Anyway..." He shrugged and held out his arm. I got my kit out and tapped his veins, finding one on the turtle on the table and connecting them. I started up the small pouch and tube contraption and it began to draw his blood out and put it into the bag, then pull it out of the bag and into the injured turtle. "I'm going to sew him up, hopefully before the blood gets circulating, but I didn't want to chance him bleeding too much. I have no idea how much blood you guys have or how much he lost."

"Our average blood level varies, but it's around 13 pints for all of us, give or take a pint for the... Bigger and smaller." The purple bespectacled turtle commented, "Raph lost at least four pints on the way back here and maybe another two as I tried to stop the bleeding."

"He lost almost half his body's worth of blood?" _Oh shit._

"Yeah, but you can stitch him up, right?" The one in orange was looking at me with the biggest, brightest blue eyes I'd ever seen, with an expression like I was a superhero about to pull a train off a cliff or something. _Oh my god, he's adorable. He's a giant turtle with more muscle than I've ever seen on anybody, and he's looking at me like-_ I take a deep breath and remove the gauze, looking at the wound and pulling a small light out of my bag on the table I was dragging around and took a look. It was a pretty clean incision, from a sharp blade. It was awfully deep, but it didn't hit any organs or bones from what I could see. I sigh in relief. There were torn pieces of tissue and some muscle was sliced a bit, but all in all, not a bad injury.

"Yes, I can do this." I looked up to the side and grinned. _Oh my god, I'm excited! Why? Because this is my first surgery on a patient ever, and it's a giant turtle that's not supposed to exist!_ Plus there's the whole part that when the orange banded turtle smiles at me, I _feel_ kind of like a superhero.

I take a quick glance at the others who're all suddenly a lot more relaxed, and ask them, "Is he unconscious from blood loss? Or did you give him something?" _God knows what they've got down here._

"He passed out." The purple one seemed to want to step closer but was unsure. I grin to myself and pull out some coagulating spray, spritzing it inside the wound. The bleeding had almost stopped, but this would help any residual from the transfusion. I pulled out the needle and thread, sterilizing them with some alcohol before threading the needle and setting it down on the table on a towel.

"I need someone to make him swallow some pills. I have an injection to put him to sleep all the way so he won't feel it, but I'd rather use the numbing agent and just give him something for pain."

"I'll do it. I've had to- do that before." The purple one steps close, now sure he can be of help.

"This is for the pain." I hand him the bottle and take out the numbing gel, opening it up and squirting a dollop onto my surgical brush. It wasn't really a brush but it was used to spread the stuff without getting it on your hands. _I need gloves when I do the stitches._ I spread the numbing gel over the sides of the cut and then outward a bit until it's covering an inch away from the wound. I have no idea how sensitive they are. "Be sure to give him enough for his weight. How much does he weigh?"

"Probably about two hundred eighty to three hundred twenty pounds." The purple one comments. "We don't weigh to an absolute, we've... Never had to before." Well it's true, I just needed _near_ the right weight unless I was planning to give him more later, but I'd feel better if I knew for sure.

"Give him about... uh..." He'd probably need to take a whole handful but I had to count it out. _God it's hot in here, isn't it? _I was sweating but they all looked perfectly comfortable, except maybe the rat who looked like he was just _always_ this calm and comfortable. _Ectotherms? Duh._ _They get their heat from their environment! _That's right. I count out the weight and how many pills more he'll need in my head. "Oh my god, he needs thirty-two of them. Um. If you could crush them up into water or something-"

"On it." He took the bottle to an actual Mortar and Pestle that I hadn't seen at first and drops in one pill, counting silently _one_ before crushing it. Then doing it again, _two_. I turn around for gloves, slipping them on and pouring some alcohol on them before picking up the needle and thread again.

I take a deep breath and start stitching. It takes seven stitches to close the wound, it must have been an actual _fucking_ sword that stabbed him. I tied off the last stitch and snipped the needle free, glancing up to see the purple turtle silently counting _twenty-one._ I spread some antiseptic and spray some antibiotic on the stitches before taking out some gauze and taping it up. I'm glad I bought the kit and bag now. I was so psyched that I'd be able to help any animals that I'd found injured or something, you know? I glance up at the others and the Rat who was apparently their father, now that I could remember he called the blue one his _son._ How the hell did that happen!? "Um. When he gives him the pain meds, he'll be mostly good to go, but I can stay until he wakes up." They're all looking at me, the purple taking glances in between doing his task. "I'll be able to give him some antibiotics and monitor him, and... If you need me after that, you can call me." I pull my cell phone out and hand it to the rat as he walks over. He looks down at it in confusion. "Um. It's in my address book under _Me._" He scratched his head and the blue one took it from him.

"I've got it dad." The image was so perfect. The slight amusement at the father who was techno-deficient and I suddenly saw them all in a new way, all over again.

The rat looked older than them, and was their father. They knew how to use technology and he didn't. They all looked around the same age, and the orange one seemed to be youngest. _How old are they?_ "What's his age?" I point to the turtle on the table.

"Leo and Raph are eighteen, Don and me are seventeen." _Holy crap, they're teenagers!? Wait, he just gave me names but I-_

"Okay, names. Now. I keep calling you purple and orange and blue and turtle on table. Who is who?" There was slight laughter and the blue turtle was entering my number into a device that looked like a- "Oh my god, is that a turtle shell cell phone!? That is so cute!" I was so busy smiling and laughing that I didn't even notice the one on the table had woken up and was blinking at me until I'd turned back around. "Oh, well hello there." They all looked over and said his name at the same time.

"Raph!" _Well I know one name now._

"Ughhh... What's goin' on?" He shifts and the purple turtle stops him with a hand on his shoulder.

I take the transfusion tube needle out of the orange one's arm and look up. "Name?"

He grins extra wide with his bright blues shining. "Mikey, girl." He draws the 'girl' out into guuurrrrl.

"Hello Mikey." I grin and turn to the purple turtle, currently explaining the situation to 'Raph'. "Your brothers names are?"

"The one in blue is Leo. The one in purple is Don." He pointed to each one. He goes to point to Raph and I tap his hand down.

"I kind of figured out his name was Raph when you all yelled it." He laughs. The bag is basically full and still transfusing blood for Raph, but at least it won't draw anymore out of the younger one. It seems kind of... Wrong, somehow.

'Don' gets Raph to drink the water with the pills in it and he eventually falls unconscious again. They can have a slight sedating effect so I expected that. The others didn't. "I-is he supposed to fall asleep now?" I look at them all with their shocked expressions and feel like laughing. But then it strikes me that they just honestly don't _know._

"It's just the painkillers. He'll wake up in a while and be cranky and unbearable. Sorry." I shrug and grimace.

Mikey rolls his eyes and grins at me, "Like we'll know the difference." I yelp when a large hand smacks Mikey upside the head.

"Shut up, Mikey." It was gravelly and growly and sort of tired.

"Hey Bro, how's it feel?" He was jumping around with extra energy now that his brother wasn't in immediate danger.

"Like I got stabbed." He replies glibly. "A lot less painful this time though." This time? How many times had he gotten stabbed? And then I saw him, really saw him. I'd been so focused on his injury I hadn't spotted the scars all over his arms, legs, and parts of his chest and plastron. I blink slowly and look at the rest of them. Leo was too wrapped up to see all of his scars, but there were enough in the grand scheme. Don was less marked up, and Mikey was barely marked at all. _It may be completely different from how it seems, don't jump to conclusions. Maybe this is just because the bigger ones are less graceful and more accident-prone. _Then Leo handed me back my phone from beside me and I jumped cause he wasn't there a second ago. He gave me an apologetic look and then walked into the other room with a measured and silent gait. _There goes that theory._

It was a few minutes before I realized the rat was gone. He'd walked in to speak in low, reassuring tones to his son and I'd kind of tuned them out so as not to intrude. But now he's just ... vanished. These animal-people are silent like death. _It's kinda cool._ "If you want, Mikey can walk you home." Don spoke up and Mikey started bouncing again.

"Yeah, we'll take the tunnels until we get close, I can show you my moves." He tapped something strapped to the back of his shell and my eyes widen when I realize it's a large piece of wood with rockets strapped to it.

"Is that safe?" I was eyeing the large contraption with fearful suspicion.

"I'm not gonna run into ya or nothin'." He shrugs.

"I meant for you!" I was incredulous. They were teenage boys allowed to drive rocket boards? _What the hell!?_

"Oh, yeah." He grins, "It's cool, Don built it for me." _Like that's supposed to make me feel better?_ He sees that it doesn't and his face falls a bit. "Uh. He's kind of a mechanical genius." He shrugs, "Plus, I've been riding it for years. It's cool." He seemed almost confused by the concern. Of course they probably don't have an overprotective female around of any kind or she'd have been crowded into the room too.

"Guys!?" Oh, I spoke too soon.

"April's here. Mikey-" Don turned to Mikey.

"I'm on it!" He darts out of the room without knocking into or over anything, and I gape at him again.

"My god you guys are graceful." The chuckle that rumbled up from Raph on the table made me jump.

"There are a lot of things I'd call Mikey. Graceful ain't one of 'em." Which of course makes me think, _If he doesn't think Mikey's graceful, he must be comparing him to someone even _more_ graceful._ Which just excites the hell out of me. "You can go home with April and Mikey, they'll explain things." He wasn't wearing a band like the others, his face completely uncovered. It's not that they look _completely_ human, but they sorta do, a little. Mikey looks like a young boy with sunshine leaking out of his every pore, Raph looks kind of like one of those bruiser guys you run into in school or on the street and wish you hadn't. Don was this tall, skinny, geeky looking guy. And Leo... I turn and look at him through the doorway. Leo looked kind of like the popular guy that's actually _nice_ and not a total douche like most of them. Their eyes, their cheekbones, the expressions on their faces, it was all so _human. _Their faces were also slightly beaked and their lips were almost nonexistent, their noses basically just small slits in their faces under their eyes, but if you didn't focus on those things, you almost missed them.

"Okay. If you don't need me here any more for now?" I lift an eyebrow at him and reach up to tighten my ponytail. My hair had gotten a little loose in all the commotion.

"Nah. I'm good." He closes his eyes and lets his head relax back onto the pillow. The table was oddly made, with a cut out space for their shells and a small spot to rest their head that didn't creak or groan with the strain. So maybe made out of iron, or steel. I look it over and realize they had to have salvaged parts and _built_ this themselves. Mikey said Don was a mechanical genius... So maybe he did this himself? "When I feel less floaty and high though, me and fearless are gonna have _words._" Who?

"Who?" I glance up at Don.

"Leo lost some blood too, and she was willing to help, so he didn't ask questions." Don spoke up and patted Raph's shoulder. "You know if Leo decided to let her in-"

"What, like he's perfect and never makes mistakes? I can't believe you let her in here in the first place- no offense." He glanced at me and I shrugged.

"People who are worried about a family member do crazy stuff." I smile at him and turn to walk out of the room.

Mikey was babbling excitedly to a woman in a yellow jacket with dark hair. "So she came in and like totally saved the day, Raph is fine now, and we can walk her home together, beautiful!" She was smiling at him in an indulgent and loving fashion, glancing over when I started toward them.

"So we've got another girl for our club, _finally_." She grins at me as I stop in front of her, lifting an eyebrow. "I'm the only woman in this whole family and the testosterone can get to you." I bark a laugh and she giggles with me. "Plus you're kind of a doctor for animals and that could come in handy. Mikey said you were willing to help more, so- I'm not being presumptuous am I?"

"No." I glance back at Leo who's in the 'kitchen' area and leaning against the table like he's not exhausted and woozy. "Ugh, I'll go make sure Fearless doesn't do a face-plant."

I walk away from both of them and hear the woman mutter, "You guys are already having an influence, huh?"

I was confused until Mikey piped up with a choked laugh in his voice, "I wonder how Leo'll react to bein' called _fearless _by somebody who's not Raph." _Oh... I didn't even notice that._ I feel myself blush a little and try to repeat his name in my head so it'll come out right. _His name is Leo, remember it. Leo. Leo._

I walked up to him and his eyes opened when I got close enough he could speak low and still be heard. "He's alright, then." It was a statement more than a question and I take a wild guess.

"You're the oldest brother, aren't you Fearle-" I stop, I smack a hand to my face and let my head drop. "Leo."

"Yeah." There was a pause and then an amused huff, "And I'm not fearless."

"Of course not, everybody has fear," I turned on my heel and stopped when I remembered what I came over for. "And as a doctor-" I spin to face him, "I order you to go to bed and not get up until you're not woozy anymore."

"Student's can't give doctor orders." He was almost smirking, but it was too wholesome to be anything sly.

"You want me to go over your head to daddy?" He almost went pale. "Didn't think so. Bed. Go. Now." I made a shoo-ing motion and he heaved a put-upon sigh, walking off in the direction of a doorway with a blue 'door'.

The woman I now remember is called April, walks over then and applauds me. "I have never seen anybody convince him to rest that fast before. He usually just spouts off something wise-sounding and nobody can figure out what he means so they leave him alone." I laugh, thinking: _Am I the first one to make the connection to his personality and being a daddy's boy?-_ and she grasps my arm, hooking her own with it and leading me toward the opening where Mikey is hopping from foot to foot in excitement. _No... But they're teenage boys. That brother-code that says you can't tattle, I guess._ I remember- "You wanna come over to my place? We can talk." April is looking at me expectantly.

"Um. We can go to my place instead." I bite my lip.

"Well, it'd be hard for Mikey to sneak onto a campus-" She dismisses that idea immediately, since it means Mikey wouldn't get to go, which is kind of cute.

"I don't live in a dorm. My parents sort of... Have a summer home on the edge of town." I make a grimace-y smile when they both look at me like I'm crazy.

"You cant tell anybody about them-" She was all of a sudden really emphatic about that.

"No no! You don't- I'm not explaining right. Um. My parents are on a cruise, as in, not there." I smile with a blush and she sighs in relief.

"So we'd be in a _house?_ I've never seen the inside of one that wasn't abandoned before!" He was so excited all of a sudden that I felt kind of bad. Then I looked around at all the homey little touches and realized he wasn't really missing out on much.

"Well, lets go to the college and get in my truck, and I'll drive you guys there."


	2. Chapter 2

Medic! Chapter 2

My couch is packed with Turtles, watching TV. Mikey and Leo are on either end, Donnie in the middle. Raph is just sort of leaning against the couch from the floor beside it. My parents aren't coming back for another few months so they don't have to hide or search the house when they come in anymore. I finally convinced them it was okay to come over and just hang out. Of course I had a hidden agenda. So I walk over in front of the TV to tell them about it. "Okay, I need: Height, Weight, and normal Temperature for all of you, so we're doing that today." Mikey groaned loudly, Raph rolled his eyes, Donnie shrugged and didn't seem to care.

"What do you need us to do?" Leo of course. I've learned over the past few days, if there's no risk and it could be good for his family or him, Leo will do it. No complaints, and often dragging Mikey behind him by the shell.

"I have a scale in the garage, I'm converting it into a clinic for you guys and it'll be ready in a few days, maybe another week. I've got all the measuring equipment in there but it's kind of haphazard and not at all sterile. That's why I'm not drawing blood or anything yet." I shrug, "So who wants to get weighed and measured first?" Mikey shrank back into the couch. Donnie shrugged and stood up before Leo could and started for the garage. Raph stole his spot as soon as he left the room. I roll my eyes as I follow after the brainy turtle. _Brothers._ I snort internally, _Always willing to benignly screw you over._

Don was stopped in the middle of my garage, blinking and tilting his head in this completely adorable way. "It's... warm." He glanced over his shoulder at me. I tap the thermostat on the inside, next to the door. 75 degrees Fahrenheit, optimal for red eared slider turtles. I'd already classified them, with Don's help, and had done a lot of research while I was in school. My teachers thought I was fixing to specialize in turtles and I figured, why not?

"Figured having the clinic at the best temperature for you guys to be comfortable would be a good idea."

"We all might just come over to sit in here and do nothing for hours." He nonchalantly stretched and seemed to droop in contentment. "It's relaxing to be warm. Might want to turn it down a bit so we're still sharp."

"This is the 'hospital' Don. Relaxing is a good thing." He shrugs and nods, sitting on the examination table that I'd bought from a hospital supply store. It was adjustable but I figured Don'd still have to change a few things before it was comfortable for them. "By the way, if I move that table into the kitchen, would you mind making it like the one in the lair?"

He blinks with wide eyes. "I-yeah. I could do that." He smiles a little, pushing up his glasses.

"You seem surprised?" I lift an eyebrow and walk over to pick up my forehead thermometer.

He shrugs and bends for me so I can reach his forehead. "Well, you seem like a very capable individual, it seemed like we couldn't offer you anything except to help us more... Which kind of surprised us. I mean, April is like that-"

"But you thought someone without any ties to you would want something from you for helping." I'm used to that kind of thinking, it was just like my own family. They were surprised when I went out of my way to do anything for somebody I didn't know. Called me: Naive. Well if I'm naive, that's fine, who wants to be so world-weary they end up hurting people who might not deserve it?

"Well yeah. So anything you ask us to do, it'll... Make us feel better. Even if this is something that will help us, it's still- the sentiment I guess." He gives me a sheepish look as I take the thermometer down and glance at the read-out. 72.6 degrees.

"You guys are sweet, I'll keep it in mind." I gesture for him to hop onto the scale nearby and he steps onto it without a problem but- "Don, the mechanical bits can come off, right?"

"Oh!"

He didn't even seem to notice they were on most of the time and as he took them off, he looked uncomfortable. He got back on the scale but kept glancing at his tech like they were clothes and he felt naked. I shake my head as I look at the readout and smirk where he can't see me. 386 pounds. About twenty to thirty of that was probably shell. "You can put 'em back on now Don," He almost jumps at the table to start strapping it all back on. It was adorable but kind of alarming to an extent. Was he dependent on them for some reason? I'm not a therapist, but it might be a good idea to learn a few things about psychology. "Stand up over here, facing the wall." He looked confused but I didn't think the little tab would reach his head if his shell was against the wall. "Stand up straight, Don. You're slouching a lot." He straightens up but seems uncomfortable with it. I could relate, I hated standing up straight when I was in high school, it was just asking to be noticed. Six foot six inches. I pull out a tape measure and go around his shell, just figuring some things out that had me curious. "You're done now, you can go back in. Send me Mikey. Even if he doesn't want to." I share a grin with him as he readjusts his glasses and walks back into the house with a slouch and a spring. I don't get that, how he slouches but is confident and happy enough to bounce when he walks.

Mikey came in, hunched over and grumbling. I almost laughed when he noticed the higher temperature and perked up to glance around the room. "Com'ere Mikey." He jolted as if remembering and walked over to me with a pout. He was the least mature in the family, the cutest, and so labeled youngest. I think he just liked being the center of attention, no matter how he could get it, good attention or bad didn't matter as long as people were looking. "I'm going to take your temperature, it's a little machine that I touch to your forehead, lean down for me." He bowed a little and I pressed the machine to his skin. "I'm not doing anything invasive, so you should relax."

"I hate sitting still." He sounded more childish than ever and it made me wanna chuckle.

"Well it'll only take a minute." 72.5 degrees. I put the thermometer down and write it on the make-shift chart. "Weight next." I point to the scale and he steps up onto it. I got it from a place that sells scales to recycling companies for large pieces of metal but I didn't think I needed to tell them that. 394 pounds for Mikey. He always seemed to be the shortest and sort of stocky and heavy looking, but I wouldn't have guessed almost four hundred pounds. Of course twenty to thirty of it was most likely all Shell, so he was probably closer in actuality to about 360. Still a higher number than I'd have guessed.

"Are we done yet?" He was bored already? It's been almost literally two minutes!

"One more. Height. Face the wall, right there." I scribble on the chart as he takes his place and make note of his height, tapping his shell to get him to straighten up. He did it almost automatically and seemed surprised. "Sorry, I forgot slider shells are sensitive." I grimace and walk around to measure his shell. Five feet eight inches. Tall for humans, short for mutant turtles. I smirk to myself and wave him off. He darts for the door and I hear a loud whine about someone stealing his seat.

I assumed Leo would be next since he was all dutiful and agreeable and all. To my great surprise, Raph walks out and pauses inside the door. Don noticed further in, but he was distracted most of the time, Mikey almost as soon as he walked a few steps in. Raph seemed to notice even before he entered the room. That's something to make note of. I gesture at him to come in further and he eyes me with suspicion. I've gotten used to this. Raph is uncomfortable with new people, he seemed to dislike humans on principle most of the time. He didn't give April these looks, even though she said he used to. April assured me it would go away with time as he came to trust me. "This is a forehead thermometer, just have to touch it to your skin. Lean down and take off the band."

He rolls his eyes and mutters a typical teen line: "Whatever..."

He cradles the sunglasses in his hand on top of the bandanna almost like a precious piece of porcelain. I wonder why they're so important, why he's always wearing them. "Lean down." He huffs and bends forward so I can touch the thermometer to his forehead. 72.65 degrees. I lift an eyebrow and write it down on my chart. "You can put 'em back on. Get on the scale next." I follow him over and he climbs tentatively onto the pressure scale. He always seems to do that with everything. He must have learned not to break a lot of stuff by being careless with his weight and strength. "Next we'll do height, you'll want to face the wall and stand up straight as possible." 416 pounds for Raph. I'm betting his shell is heavier and thicker than the others. It looks that way. He steps off the scale and walks over to the height measure, rolling his shoulders and cracking his neck. I've noticed he does that a lot. More than wanting to seem tough, it seems like he does it to relieve stress. "Hold still for a minute." I measure his shell and record his height. Six foot three inches. Not as tall as Don, though his wider shoulders tended to make him look bigger. "You're done. Let Leo know it's his turn." I turn around and walk back over to the thermometer before noticing he hasn't moved. He's staring at the wall, his fingers twitching and his lips pressed tightly together.

I let him be for a minute, because it's obvious there's something he wants to say. You can't push people like Raph to say something they aren't ready to. So I wrote out a few notes about the differences in their muscle tone and shoulder width and how I should measure that too. It didn't take long for him to decide whatever it was wasn't worth it and he walked out of the room without a single backward glance. I hope that doesn't end up blowing up in my face at some point.

Leo entered not long after without pausing, but commented easily, "It's a very comfortable temperature in here." I scribbled that down in curiosity and gestured at him to walk over to me. I just have to move my hand up and down to get him to bend forward so I can reach his forehead. Leo is very perceptive and doesn't usually need words to understand an instruction. I had fun testing that out the first few times I had to ask where things were on an early morning in the lair. 73.4 degrees. Hum. I point to the scale and he trots over with that silent, liquid-like grace that unnerves me _and_ makes me jealous all at once. He stands perfectly still and even takes his swords off before I can ask. The others just had to unhook or set down their weapons, but Leo is always wearing his. They're like his extra arms. 407 pounds for Leo... He was closer to Raph's weight than anyone else, but his was hidden in a leaner and taller frame. Six feet Five inches tall, to be exact. He didn't even need me to tell him to face the wall and had walked over before I could even gesture at him. Perceptive, adaptive, very intelligent. Don was the genius, but Leo noticed things around himself more and seemed to be the planner.

It took a few minutes to record all my thoughts and all the things I'd need to get done once the 'clinic' was finished. I still had to have the place sterilized and walled in metal. Then I'd have to buy the equipment for scanning and x-ray-ing. My parents were well-off but they'd notice if I started spending a lot of money on medical equipment. Especially if it wasn't strictly all animal-medical equipment. So I guess I'd be dumpster diving with Don to find the stuff I'd need. First of all was getting a large chair or mini-sofa so they could all sit somewhere in the front room. I'd have to set up a schedule for a physical, which Raph and Mikey probably wouldn't like. And I'm a woman so they probably wouldn't feel comfortable with talking to me about medical issues. I could set up an intermediary thing with Splinter I guess, but I'd rather just work with them on being more comfortable with and trusting me.

They were arguing over the TV show when I came back in, smacking each other on the arm or with their elbows. It was more of Leo, Raph, and Mikey's fight than Don's. He just sort of gravitated to the floor and away from them. I sat next to Don on the floor and gave him an eyebrow raise. He shrugs and rolls his eyes, shifting his attention back to the TV screen. His eyes went kind of foggy and his fingers twitched a bit. So I know he's not really watching. The three on the couch were escalating so I rapped the floor with my knuckles. They all stilled and looked predatory for a moment before realizing it was me and not an intruder or someone knocking on the front door. "Who wants pizza and what kinds?" Because asking if anyone wants pizza and expecting not to have to ask what kind next is stupid. The answer is always yes. Even Leo, who seems to eat salad more than anything will gorge on pizza if there's enough to go around.

I ended up ordering about twelve pizzas. Pepperoni, sausage, shrimp tempura (it counts as a large pizza apparently), some with green and red peppers, some with mushrooms, and some dessert pizza pies with almonds, berries, and icing. I switched the TV channel to something action-y because I figured they'd fight less about it, then was proven wrong when it just excited them into wrestling. I off-handedly commented on my way to the kitchen, "Don't break the TV, and Raph- don't break Mikey, I'm the one who'll have to fix _that_." Their laughter was warm, inviting, I felt relaxed-happy even. I usually spend all day alone in the house when I'm not at school, and I was starting to get sick of it. Ever since I'd met them, I'd started to notice this... Craving to be around them. Like they were a drug or a comfort food, you know? When I was alone, I'd be creeped out by the silence and think about what Mikey was probably making them all for dinner, or ordering as the case may be. I'd think about Raph and his healing injury. He refused to lie down longer than the few days it took for his blood to replenish. His stitches were almost all the way healed up now and the thread was slowly dissolving into his skin. It was supposed to, but this is ridiculously fast. I even thought about Leo, though it often degraded into: What does Leo even DO besides train and meditate? It's nearer to night than day, they get up around six p.m. And go to bed at nine a.m. I started taking night classes just so I could get on their schedule. I hadn't told them that, of course.

I heard a smash that sounded shatter-y and sighed. "Sorry!" I slump onto the island in the kitchen and snort to myself.

"I'll fix it!" Don sounds exasperated and worried all at once while Raph continues to shove Mikey around the floor from the sound of the scraping noises. The doorbell rang and everyone went quiet as I led the guy into my kitchen so he could set everything down. He had to make two trips for everything including the drinks and left with my money and an exhausted slump to his shoulders. April was just driving up as he walked out to his car. I waited for her to park and trot up to the front door, closing it behind her. "Pizza?"

"Pizza." I shrug and grin, walking into the kitchen where the boys are already divvying up the pizzas with their favorite toppings. I take the sausage pizza for me and April and we walk into the front room, sitting on the floor and picking up two pieces. "You can't deny it's damn good, especially when you get stuffed crust." She snickered and bit into her piece backwards. "I hate that!" She chews and takes another bite, giving me a snarky smirk. It's no way to eat pizza!

There was an air of contentment as the boys dug in and chattered animatedly about things I did and did not understand in turns. One minute they're talking about skateboarding and ninja skills and the next they're commenting on movies and comic books, or arguing about which pizza is best. Normal boys with a twist, and turtle DNA. They were still nicer and more courteous than any boys I'd ever met their age nowadays. Mikey stole some of our pizza, but seeing as Raph stole some of his, I didn't see the need to mention it. I could only eat about three slices anyway. April fit in like she'd known them her whole life instead of just a few years. They talked easily together, about a range of different subjects, Mikey firing off a flirty comment every once in a while that she indulged with a smile and a head-shake.

They had to go 'on patrol' and I thought it was adorable when I first heard it, now it kind of made me leery. The last two times they'd gone out 'on patrol', Don had fractured one of his fingers and Mikey's toe was stubbed bad enough to crack it. It had taken three days for each of them to heal. Three. Days. They each said goodbye to me as they walked outside to hop in the bed of April's pick-up. She got the large truck with the back cover just for them and I thought that was a very sweet sentiment when she'd blushed and gestured at it when she told me. April gets embarrassed pretty easy when it comes to the guys. I don't think she's used to anyone else knowing about them and having to explain herself.

Raph gave me a backward glance that I couldn't really interpret and I started to worry that he had a problem he felt he couldn't talk to me about, but wanted to. Did he feel sick? Maybe he had an injury that he didn't show anyone from going 'on patrol'? He finally just shoved back from the truck where he was going to climb in and walked over to where I was still standing in the doorway. He had that tight-lipped expression from before on his face. "Thanks." It was more spat than said but he turned and left, looking more relaxed than before. My chest felt kind of light and warm, and I realized I was grinning when he glanced over his shoulder at me and huffed, jumping into the truck bed. There were some jibes at his expense that I heard before they shut the doors and took off. Raph didn't like to show gratitude but felt the need to. He must have been fighting himself for _days_ over that.


	3. Chapter 3

Medic! Chapter 3

The house is too quiet. There's not even the sound of a TV set on because I turn everything off when I go to bed. It's eight a.m. And I just have to stay awake for one more hour. They'll be going back to the lair now, headed to bed, completely safe. I told them I would stay on alert all night and when they were safe, to send me a text. Leo dutifully fulfilled that task and sent me one every morning and every night to let me know when they were leaving and when they were back home. Night before last they'd come over before giving me the all-clear and I'd almost freaked before seeing they were all in one piece. Leo had Don's arm around his shoulders, Don was limping, and it had turned out to be a slightly sprained ankle. It was probably new for Don though, as he didn't usually damage his legs. Don is an arm and finger cracker though Raph still had some fun at his expense when he realized it _wasn't_ broken and Donnie had apparently been whining about it pretty spectacularly.

My phone pings with the sound of a meditation gong. I'd put that as Leo's text notification because that's what always comes to mind when I think of him. Raph's was basically a cymbal crash and Don's a Techno bloop. Mikey's was a high-pitched laugh. It still made me grin when I heard that. I pick up my phone, and immediately drop it in favor of running out my door and down the stairs.

_Mikey injured. Heading for clinic. Need stitches. Might have broken bones. -Fearless_

The table wasn't finished and Don had only taken it apart and put it halfway back together, so it was basically useless right now. I growl to myself and run into the hall for the extra blankets in the closet. I put one down and then pillow some where his legs will rest and put two pillows where his head would be. I'd have to adjust it, no doubt, but at least I had something. The sound of an engine roaring down the road was suddenly very loud and I realize that Leo must've texted me after already being on the road cause that was _fast_. Or maybe April just broke a hundred different traffic laws on the way over, seems like something she'd do. I hit the garage door opener and stand in the opening. The truck pulls up the driveway and turns around to back up to the opening. I gesture for her to stop and she jumps out to help me open the back. _Oh my god._ I sigh in relief when Mikey is revealed and awake. His leg looks pretty messed up and bloody but Leo was right, broken bones were possible and stitches would fix it up after setting. Leo is in the back with Mikey, but Don and Raph are nowhere to be seen. He picks Mikey up under his arms and helps him out of the truck. He sort of hops on one foot with Leo half-carrying him over to the pallet on the floor. "Just lie him down with his head on the pillows and if I need his legs more elevated I'll send you for more." I give him a grin and he nods, setting Mikey slowly down and picking up both his legs to set them on the blankets.

I adjust the pillows under his head and he gives me a bright smile. "Gonna fix me up, Doc?"

I snort, "Shut up. God. I can't be laughing while I'm setting and stitching, Mikey."

"Sorry, Doc." He'd taken to calling me that lately and I couldn't think of a reason for him to stop, so I let it be.

"I'm gonna come up with a code system for you guys so you can give me the level of danger. I had this image of you broken and bleeding all over the place." I give Leo a look. He looks sheepish and shrugs. "Seriously, couldn't just put _broken leg_?" He looks away and I realize that he might have been more worried than he seemed. "You guys heal so fast, I'm sure his leg'll be fine in a few days."

I walk around to the blanket bundles and skew my mouth to the side. "Fearless, need pillows, hall closet." He darts to his feet in an anxious movement and makes himself calm down and walk slower, it's obvious from his leg muscles that he wants to run. They're tensed and twitchy, while the rest of him is relaxed as ever. I sit down and wait for him to leave the room before looking at April. "He gets pretty upset about this kind of thing, huh?"

"Leo has a responsibility complex." April shrugs and sighs, "Everything bad that happens is automatically his fault. You know."

"Big brother syndrome." Mikey laughs at that one. "Also applies to big sisters. Being the oldest tends to stress some people out with all the responsibility they heap on themselves."

"Yeah, but in this case..." April glances up where Leo walked into the house, "It was _really_ out of his control."

"Close the garage, if you would. The button is over there. If you shut the back of the truck it should be easy." She tromps over to slam the truck doors shut and walks back in to hit the button on the wall.

Leo brings three pillows out to me, and I think it's endearing how much he keeps glancing at Mikey's leg and looking upset. Somebody should really tell him it wasn't his fault but it's not my place, and I wasn't there, so I just adjust the pillows until Mikey's legs are relatively straight and elevated. I feel the bone as well as I can without causing the cuts to bleed too much more than they already have. "Seems like it's just cracked, or maybe it's broken and still in place. I don't have an X-ray yet, Don and I were going to go to a dump tomorrow to look for some stuff. I think I should stitch him up, bind his leg, and then he can just lie in here to sleep tonight."

"Awww." Mikey pouts.

"I'll make pancakes in the morning." I lift an eyebrow at him.

"Oh. Okay, then." He grins and crosses his arms over his plastron. I frown and lean forward, taking a closer look. "What?"

"Where are your puka shells?" It's weird to see him without them.

He looks down and pats before seeming to remember something, "Oh. They got ripped off. Aww man, I loved that necklace!" He sighs and lets his head fall back onto the pillows. "I'll probably never find it."

"I'll get you a new one, Mikey." April pats his arm and he gives her a look.

"It wasn't just the necklace. Master Splinter gave me it when I was little." He sighs, "He found it and gave it to me because I liked Hawaiian stuff."

"I'm sorry Mikey." Leo knelt and patted Mikey on the shoulder, "But I'm sure Master will give you something else to replace it."

"I guess." Mikey was still frowning. He jumped when I tapped his leg.

"I need Fearless to crush the pills, I'm too weak to do it fast enough. Then I need my sewing kit..." I get up and walk over to grab the Mortar and Pestle that Don had given me. Don made me one after I'd expressed a need for it. I hand it over to Leo as he steps up beside me and start plopping pills into the small dish nearby until I have Twenty-eight of them. It was the safer bet to do a lower dosage with Mikey. It wasn't lower by much, but to err on the side of caution was smart in my book.

I walk away as Leo begins to crush them and kneel down to grab my stitch kit in a lower drawer of my work table. It'd probably be better to use some sedatives along with the pain killers so I grab a bottle from one of the other drawers and count out about eighteen of them before plopping them into the bowl with the others. "Sedatives." I shrug. The painkillers had a slight drowsy and tired effect but this would put Mikey out and I preferred that. Leo nods and goes back to quickly crushing and pouring the powder into a nearby glass container. Don had obviously had him do this before. And of course anything Leo could do to feel useful would probably ease his mind. Every time I saw them, spoke to them, I got a clearer picture of who they were and why they did the things they did.

I had to wait until Leo was finished before doing anything with the stitches, but I could spray antibiotics and antiseptics. I get down on one knee and spritz the antibiotics on the small cuts and two longer ones that required stitches running up his thigh and down his lower leg. It seemed like he'd run into something sharp going two different directions. Hell, they were ninjas, maybe somebody flicked their swords up and down at them. I frown at the injury, confused. I don't know what could have done this besides- oh. I glance over my shoulder at Fearless. "It really wasn't his fault." Mikey looked sheepish. "I got caught in something and he had to cut it off before it crushed my leg." I nod slowly, makes sense.

"What caught you?" I spray the antiseptic around the ragged edges of the smaller cuts, now knowing the longer cuts were made by mostly sterile metal. Leo cleaned his katanas like a religious ritual.

"There was this machine, I was looking at it cause- it was weird lookin'!" He pouted when I gave him a look. "So it sensed me somehow and woke up, grabbed my leg and started tryin' to toss me around like a rag doll. Leo cut off the cuff and stabbed it through the... Head-thing." He was at a loss for words. "It looked... Head-ish. I think."

"It was a circuit-board." Leo offered from behind us.

"Yeah, one of those circuity things. Anyway, my leg didn't hurt until after it was all over, is that normal?" He didn't wait for me to answer and instead went on to rapidly detail the entire encounter for us. I didn't pay much attention, he seemed to be doing it for April's benefit and maybe a little to keep his mind off the obvious pain.

Leo handed me a water bottle that was murky white and I stood up to get a flavor packet, I know how bitter medicine can be. I shake it until it's bright orange, mixed thoroughly and then kneel back down to hand it to Mikey. He still made a face when he drank it, but he didn't grumble about how it tasted like ass -like Raph did- so I count it as a win. Leo sat down in 'meditation pose' and closed his eyes. Mikey continued to babble a little until he finally started to get sleepy. His eyes drooped and he still somehow managed to keep talking in his half-asleep state until he was completely knocked out. I cleaned and bandaged the smaller injuries, stitched him up, wrapped his leg as tightly and securely as I could with some help from Leo when he sensed me having a hard time. I swear to god, half the time I don't even have to say anything to this guy.

Leo and April made for the door and I hit the button to open it for them. "You might want to relax before you pop a vein, Fearless." He looked sincerely surprised. No doubt he always _looked_ relaxed, but I'm betting he rarely ever _felt_ relaxed.

"I will. And I'm not Fearless." He gave me a half-unsure grin and hopped up into the back of the truck.

I shrug, "I think Raph just calls you that to be a jerk, and it's sort of an oxymoron if you think about it but-"

"I get it, thanks." He shakes his head as he closes the back doors.


End file.
